Vilnius Visual Integrity Report

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Visual Integrity ofHistoric Urban LandscapesHero Expert Workshop, Vilnius, 9.-11. May 2010

Edited byNils Scheffler, Lead Expert of the HerO network, May 2010


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VISUAL INTEGRITY

THEMATIC REPORT ABOUT SAFEGUARDING VISUAL INTEGRITY OF HISTORIC

URBAN AREAS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT

BASED ON THE HERO EXPERT WORKSHOP IN VILNIUS, 9.-11.MAY 2010

Table of Contents

The Hero network .............................................................................................................. 3IntroductionNils Scheffler, Lead Expert of the HerO network..............................................................................4The visual integrity of his toric urban landscapesDennis Rodwell, Architect-Planner, Scotland, United Kingdom ........................................................... 5Evaluation of the visual integrity in VilniusGediminas Rutkauskas, Director of Vilnius Old Town Renewal Agency................................................ 8Integration of new developments in the Old Town of VilniusRta Matonien, Head of Development and Planning Division, Urban Development Department, Vilnius ..10Vilnius City Development and Methods to protect townscape and visual identityMindaugas Pakalnis, Head architect of the Municipal Enterprise "Vilniaus Planas................................14


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THE HERO NETWORK

The URBACT II Thematic Network HerO -Heritage as OpportunitySustainable Management Strategies forVital Historic Urban Landscapes

The Vienna Memorandum on World Heritage andContemporary Architecture - Managing the Historic

Urban Landscape (UNESCO World Heritage Cen-

tre, 2005) states that the historic urban landscape

cannot be merely seen as an accumulation of sig-

nificant monuments but rather needs to be consid-

ered as a living organism and vital living space for

its inhabitants.

However, the rapidly changing basic conditions of

modern times pose a big challenge on the man-

agement of many historic urban areas, which can nolonger be handled by traditional mono-sectoral poli-

cies. The imbalance of progress and the preserva-

tion of the historic urban fabric often results in either

economic stagnancy or the loss of cultural heritage

values and with it the loss of identity.

In this context, the URBACT II Thematic Network

HerO aims to develop integrated and innovative

management strategies and urban development

policies to facilitate the right balance between the

preservation of built cultural heritage and the sus-

tainable, future-proof socio-economic development

of historic urban landscapes and to strengthen the

attractiveness and competitiveness of the old town

area. Thereby emphasis will be placed on managing

conflicting usage interests and capitalising the po-

tential of cultural heritage assets for economic, so-

cial and cultural activities.

HerO Partner Cities are: Regensburg (Germany,

Lead Partner), Graz (Austria), Naples (Italy), Vilnius

(Lithuania), Sighioara (Romania), Liverpool (United

Kingdom), Lublin (Poland), Poitiers (France) andValletta (Malta).

The project will be carried out in close co-operation

with EAHTR - The European Association of Historic

Towns and Regions.

The European Commission has awarded HerO the

"Fast Track Label", a specific instrument of the Re-

gions for Economic Change initiative which aims to

get the cities and the Managing Authorities of the

European cohesion policy's Operational Programme

working together to enhance the impact exchange

activities have on local policies.

Contact

Lead Partner: City of Regensburg

Matthias Ripp ([email protected])

World Heritage Co-ordinator of the City of Regens-

burg and HerO Project Co-ordinator

Barbara Bhler ([email protected] )

HerO Project Manager

Klaus Grepmeier ([email protected])

European Officer of the City of Regensburg

Lead Expert

Urban Expert

Nils Scheffler ([email protected])

Subscribe for the HerO newsletter:

[email protected]

Further information on the project:

www.urbact.eu/hero
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.urbact.eu/herohttp://www.urbact.eu/heromailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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INTRODUCTION

Nils Scheffler, Lead Expert of the HerO network

What does Visual Integrity mean and why

is its preservation of importance?

The term Visual integrity refers to the wholeness

and intactness of the historic urban fabric and land-

scape. In particular it is about:

The physical safeguarding and restoring of the(protected) historic fabric (monuments, historicbuildings, open space);

The preservation and re-establishment of viewperspectives, silhouettes, townscape characteris-tics and panoramas;

The preservation and reconstitution of visual re-lationships to the surrounding landscape.

Thus, the Visual integrity is of high importance forsafeguarding tangible cultural heritage values of

historic urban landscapes as it affects the overall

aesthetic impression of the historic area, its unhin-

dered perceivability and its dominating effect from a

distance.

Further it is of great significance for the identity of a

place, which can strengthen the identification of the

citizens and businesses with their town through civic

pride, binding them emotionally. Further visual in-

tact historic urban landscapes can serve to distin-

guish the city from other towns and regions in the

global competition of attracting skilled people and

investments by creating a distinct image.

Within the HerO network the partners face similar

challenges, preserving the visual integrity of their

historic urban areas:

Proper integration of new architecture and de-velopment projects, respecting the historic, spa-tial and townscape characteristics of its setting good urban design (quality standards and their

enforcement); Protection of visual key view perspectives, sil-

houettes, townscape characteristics and pano-ramas, which strongly contribute to the distinct-iveness of the historic urban landscape;

Proper integration of advertisement and com-mercial signs in public space, without harmingthe visual integrity of the historic urban land-scape;

Proper safeguarding of the historic fabric, in par-ticular by inciting property owners to invest intheir property, preserving the cultural heritage

values and supporting the sustainable urban de-velopment.

Expert Workshop about Visual Integrity

The HerO Expert Workshop in Vilnius (4thmeeting

of the HerO network) served the network partners to

exchange experience dealing with these challengesin order to support the safeguarding of historic urban

areas and their cultural heritage. Around 40 partici-

pants took part.

Vilnius has been a practical show case for the visual

Integrity of Historic Urban Landscapes and the

meeting provided a good insight for all network part-

ners into dealing with the safeguarding of the visual

integrity of historic urban areas in the context of the

sustainable urban development.

Besides two walking tours to experience the Visual

integrity of the Old Town live, three presentations

about that topic were given by the host city:

Evaluation of the visual integrity in Vilnius,

Integration of new developments in the Old Townof Vilnius,

Vilnius City Development and Methods to protecttownscape and visual identity.

The presentations were completed by a further

presentation about Visual integrity of historic urban

landscapes and lively discussion by the partners.

This report summarises the presentations about the

Visual integrity, which also can be downloaded

from the HerO website:

http://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-

development/hero/our-activities.

Further Good-practice examples about Visual in-

tegrity can be found in the HerO Good-Practice

Compilation: http://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-

heritage-city-development/hero/our-outputs.

In the name of the Lead Partner, we would like to

thank sincerely Gediminas Rutkauskas and Jurate

Raugaliene and their organising team for hosting the

4thmeeting and organising it so well. We are sure

the participants will keep Vilnius in good memory

and will return some day.

We thank all participants very much for their partici-

pation and look forward to our next meeting inNaples in November 2010 about the issue of mixed-

uses in historic urban areas to continue our ex-

change of experience and cooperation.
http://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-activitieshttp://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-activitieshttp://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-outputshttp://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-outputshttp://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-outputshttp://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-outputshttp://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-activitieshttp://urbact.eu/en/projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-activities


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Definition of historic urban landscapes

he concept of historic urban landscapes seeks to

and intangible cultural heritage aspects;

rks of nature and man.

February 2008, ICOMOS sought to define the

the sensory perception of the urban system and

d

i-

his ICOMOS definition did not, however, mention

hallenges

he challenges historic cities have to face today are

e

s

xamples are high rise and other out-of-scale build-

a-

ster and Tower high rise de-

urg: Marinsky Theatre and Gaz-

urth Grace.

THE VISUAL INTEGRITY OF HISTORIC URBANLANDSCAPES

Dennis Rodwell, Architect-Planner, Scotland, United Kingdom

The Historic City and the Sustainable City

The Historic City may be considered a model for theSustainable City as the characteristics of the sus-

tainable City go along with the characteristics of his-

toric cities:

Key Issues:

Land: efficient use.

Material and energy resources: renewable.

Wastes: limitation and recycling.

Environmental quality including air quality.

Consensus: Compact, dense, mixed-use.

Proximity: limit daily journeys.

Prioritisation of walking and cycling.

Polycentric development, expansion, and rela-tionship to other cities.

Historic cities considered as a material andsocio-economic resource as well as a culturalone.

Enhanced reason for their conservation andadaptive reuse.

As archetypal European historic city (pre-industrial)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber can be taken. The town

can be characterised through its identity sense of

place human scale mixed use proximity

harmony. The city is clearly defined, compact, has

few major buildings and a central market place and

diffused artisan workshops. The communities are

mixed, always socially, sometimes also by ethnic

origin and religion. There is a balanced relationship

to the locality physically and ecologically and a

limited range of local constructional materials andcraft skills.

A

Tconvey the holistic understanding of inhabited his-

toric cities:

Tangible

Related natural elements, both within and in theirsettings/surroundings.

Thus: the combined wo

In

concept as referring to:

its setting. A system of material components (urban

layout, plot system, buildings, open spaces, trees,

urban furniture, etc.) and the relationships among

them, which are the result of a process, conditione

by social, economical, political and cultural con-

straints over time. The concept of [historic urban

landscapes] contributes to link tangible and intang

ble heritage components and to assess and under-

stand the town or urban area as a process rather

than as an object.

Tnatural elements.

C

T

the dramatic demographic and socio-economic

changes, which go along with the pace of chang

and high dynamics of development in these cities.

Hitherto and generally, these forces have concen-

trated in the most sensitive historic parts of the citie physically and culturally.

E

ings within and neighbouring historic city centres as

well as iconic modern/contemporary architecture

which bring to light the conflict of heritage conserv

tion versus modernist urban planning and architec-

ture. Examples are

London: Westminvelopments,

Saint Petersbprom tower,

Liverpool: Fo

Dennis Rodwell


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lso pressures for large-scale floor-space for public

-

istoric cities have to devise new solutions for the

f

e, small

inability, respond to con-

lternative Urban Planning Models:

he typical views methodology to preserve the vis-

lso the Western model for post-industrial cities

ith

transport dependence;

-

omic identity;

n alternative vision of complementary development

rtive,

small scale urban grain; proximity

odern city:

er scale + limitless possibilities for ex-

e dynamics

ty = freedom from design

ontemporary interventions

he harmonious integration of new developments

s the concen-

rced build height controls.

nother important aspect is the implementation of

ood urban design. Practical experience has

uffi-

ement plan for the City of Bath Worlderitage Site demonstrates an alternative approach.

A

administration, commerce, retail and services and

the forecast of doubling of international tourist num

bers by 2020 (cultural tourism and Disneyland) is

threatening fabric, grain, functionality, distinctive-

ness and urban landscapes of historic cities.

H

historic parts of cities that enable them to function inharmony with their expanding forms and secure a

sustainable future for them. This means to recog-

nise, embrace and highlight the positive aspects o

incremental change, including those that:

secure continuity of traditional mixed usscale functionality, and

through a focus on sustacerns about climate change.

A

Conflict versus Harmony

T

ual integrity by the single vista picture postcard ap-

proach is challenged as the historic urban land-

scapes represent a concept to be experienced

rather than observed.

A

(The Garden City: Ebenezer Howard and The

Modern Movement: Le Corbusier) is conflicting w

the safeguarding of historic urban landscapes. The

model has resulted in

Urban dispersal and

Concentration of volatile redevelopment pressures in sensitive historic centres;

Loss of material fabric / socio-econ

Degradation of inner city neighbourhoods andsocio-economic problems.

A

is the approach of Gustavo Giovannoni (1873

1947). He pioneered a vision of mutually suppo

harmonious coexistence, emphasising the comple-

mentary qualities and opportunities (examples are

Urbino and Siena).

Historic city

compact;

vibrant, distinctive socio-economic role

contextual homogeneity

M

open, largpansion

alternativ

absence of contextualiconstraint

C

T

into the urban landscape of any historic city de-

pends on two key factors:

A strategic urban plan that prevent

tration of high value redevelopment pressures intheir most sensitive historic parts and their set-tings and

strictly enfo

City of Sibiu and GTZl

A

g

shown that the enforcement of good urban design

through guidance, laws and regulations is not s

cient, as it requires more human resources than cit-

ies can normally justify, and is rarely recoverable in

penalties.

The managH

It has the over-arching ambition to insinuate heri-

tage values into every aspect of urban manage- Dennis Rodw ell


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mple is the Scottish Borders,

hich provides not prescriptive guidelines, but

lud-al features.

features that are appropri-

Th st ought to encourage the agreement to

iffer within a recognised tolerance of behaviour.

hus, official guidance towards good urban designment, and to harness citizens sense of common

ownership of a culture of excellence in which good

practice in the historic environment becomes the

norm. This, of course, is not easy, but as a workable

way forward it has more prospects of success tha

any amount of enforcement. Amongst the most suc-

cessful ambassadors in this are young people. In-

spire their enthusiasm and they will inspire their

peers and elders.

Another Good exa

w

obliges the architect to think and justify his design

by going through a process of analysis against

checklists:

The wider area, its context and features incing natur

The local area, its context and features.

The building and theate to its neighbours.

What (positive) contribution will my designmake?

e checkli

d

Key words and phrases are: relate, fit, work with

existing features rather than against, consider the

form, proportion and window design, seek inspira-

tion from the best.

T

ey management issues

ey Management Issues today include:

their rela-

rmonious integration,

mall

al use

ips: Strive for ecological

by tourism.

is necessary, but depending how it is done, its re-

sult can range from total disregard to their surround-

ings up to the integration with the established archi-

tectural language, from using modern materials to

facadism.

K

K

The role of historic cities/ quarters andtionship to their modern counterparts: Harmoni-ous coexistence, through strategic planning (twoand three dimensional).

Modern interventions: Hathrough mutual respect (scale and design).

Scale and proximity of functions: prioritise: Sscale mixed use, through detailed planning (in-cluding protection of artisan activities).

Housing, generally the dominant historic(floorspace): Protect the function, as well as so-cial and cultural mix.

Sustainable relationshbalance within (wherever possible) and betweencities and reduce, reuse and recycle and stayclose to source.

Avoid domination

Dennis Rodwell


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rerequisites for the integral management

very historic area and its setting should be consid-

he safeguarding of them ought to be an integral

n

d by

lso an effective management system ought to be

to be flexible in order

should deal with

evelopment of historic urban

lytical and careful regulation of the crea-

al, economic

aluation of the visual integrity

he setting of historic towns, as important part of the

afeguarding historic towns and their setting implies

ir

aving the visual integrity in mind the natural and

views and their progress as well as the visual pro

EVALUATION OF THE VISUAL INTEGRITY IN VILNIUS

Gediminas Rutkauskas, Director of Vilnius Old Town Renewal Agency

TThe article accents what the reader should have

in mind when he or she is talking about the vis-

ual integrity and the management of it.

part of a general territorial understanding, which ca

not be divided from the overall urban structure. That

demands coherent policies of economic and social

development and ought to be considered in thestructural and urban plans at any level, supporte

the residents of historic urban areas.

Challenges of historic towns

Historic towns are the living examples, which display

the evolution of society and its cultural identity. They

are integral part of a broader natural or man-made

context that must be considered as indissoluble part

of them. They are living organisms, and as an active

part of contemporary life, subject to change.

A

introduced. It should be conceived according to the

type and characteristics of the historic town and its

cultural and natural context.

The management system has to be able to change according to the cultural policy,

social needs, economic potentials, resources avail-

able and other factors. It should combine traditional

practices, tools of urban planning in force and other

formal and informal systems of planning control.

The change brings positive as well as negative im-

pacts to the historic towns. Challenges, derived from

change and globalisation during the last decades,have aroused menacing historic towns, in particular

mass tourism,

It urban traffic,

the continuous d destruction of intangible heritage,areas,

the ana energy problems and climate change.

tive processes of architectural development,

the cultural development challenges by elites,

Also the development of mono-functional historic

centres oriented to satisfy pure leisure needs or as

consumer product for mass tourism endangers the

traditional activities and functions which affect the

identity and quality of life of these areas.

democracy and globalisation and

the integral entity of political, cultur

and spiritual aspects.

V

There is a strong demand to preserve these historic

towns from a disruption with the social fabric and its

cohesion.

T

visual integrity, ought to be taken as the natural or

man-made context which influences the static or the

dynamic perception of these areas and they are di-

rectly linked to the social, economic and cultural ties

of the society.

S

to take the necessary steps to protect, conserve and

restore and at the same time to harmoniously adapt

them to the coherent development of contemporary

life. This means, actions have to be implemented

which ensure the harmonious relationship between

the historic urban area and its setting. It concerns

both tangible and intangible elements in order to

protect the identity of a place without impeding the

evolution.

P

of preserving historic towns

E

ered in their totality as a coherent entity whose bal-

ance and specific nature depends on the fusion of

the parts of which it is composed. This includes hu-man activities as much as the buildings, the spatial

organisation and the surrounding.

H

cultural urban landscape has to be thought as well

as one entity, taking into account general panoramic


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pective of objects, streets and areas. Also the time

nd the change brought by it have to be considered

s in

armony with the surrounding should not be dis-

-

i-

tant aspect of the visual integrity is its contri-

ution to the identity building of a place and its spirit

s

a

in terms of images and sentiments due to the natu-

ral evolution of the living city (new structures and

functions), the mental evolution and the change of

values and perceptions (new human needs).

Also the introduction of contemporary element

h

couraged since such features can contribute to the

enrichment and progress of an area. Change has

not to be seen as a threat, but as an opportunity to

increase the quality of life in historic towns. The ad

aptation of them to contemporary life or their revi-

talization requires the careful installation or im-

provement of public service facilities and new activ

ties.

Impor

b

genius loci. The important elements of it have to

be identified and safeguarded since they help de-

termining a live environment, giving sense to the

existing building layout.

One important charter dealing with the integral ur-

ban conservation management is the ICOMOS

Charter of the Conservation of Historic Towns andUrban Areas (Washington D.C. 1987 and under cur-

rent update).

Elements of visual integrity to be preserved

Dealing with the visual integrity of historic towns,

elements particularly to be preserved are:

The relationship between the town or urban areawith the setting of its surrounding, both naturaland man-made.

The various functions and traditions that the townand their urban areas have acquired over timeand its adaptability to new functions without be-traying its history and without loosing its inhabi-tants.

The cultural tradition, spirit of places and con-temporary creative potentials that contributes tothe identity of a place.

Any threat to these qualities would compromise theauthenticity of the historic town and their historic

urban areas.


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INTEGRATION OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE OLDTOWN OF VILNIUS

Rta Matonien, Head of Development and Planning Division, Urban Development Department, Vilnius

Distinctiveness of Vilnius Another significant change was the new construc-tions in the 60-90ties in style of modernism and

postmodernism. Main examples are the Contempo-

rary Art Centre Lietuva and Maskava cinema

theatres.

The distinctiveness of Vilnius is determined by itsculture, traditions, the hilly landscape of the city with

the fantastic views and in particular by the remaining

Old Town with its medieval streets, peculiar compo-

sition of spaces and historic buildings. These are the

architectural objects from the Gothic era till the be-

ginning of the 20th century. The Old Town retains

very close contact with the suburban areas.

Vilnius City Municipality and the Jewish Cultural

Heritage Support Fund of Lithuania signed the

agreement to restore fragments of the historical

Jewish Ghetto in July 2002. The Jewish quarter was

formed in the Old Town in the 16thcentury, giving

place to about 60.000 Jewish people in 1939. In

1941 the Germans established the Jewish ghetto

which was liquidated in 1943 and later demolished

and not restored until today.

Vilnius has been the most significant cultural and

scientific centre in the region, as well as an impor-

tant regional centre of crafts and trade, open to eve-

rybody over the centuries to Lithuanians, Byelorus-

sians, Jews, Germans, etc.According to the Agreement, which objective is to

commemorate the Jewish cultural heritage, it is

planned to reconstruct the former architectural struc-

tures of the Jewish quarter, based on historic, icono-

graphic and archaeological material. At the moment

first two sites are being developed and the reconstruc-

tion of former historic block of buildings is going on.

Change of Vilniuss Old Town after 2nd

World War

The Second World War and the subsequence re-

construction process did change the Old Town ap-

pearance. During the war the Old Town suffered

relatively small damages compared to other Eastern

European cities. Nevertheless, spaces betweenbuildings were left, where buildings used to be. Not

typical for the Old Town, squares and empty spaces

were formed, which nowadays are considered as

very attractive for the local community.

Restoration of the Old Town since the90ties

Since the 90ties the main development trends in the

Old Town focused on the conservation and restora-

tion of historic buildings and converting the building

functions, making them suitable for trade, catering

and offices. This was financed mainly by private in-

vestors.

These empty wholes were deepened during post

war period, which had the main target to implement

the vision of the socialist city with wide streets,

huge and modern buildings, giving little attention to

the cultural heritage and its history. Thanks to the

unstable after-war economic and political situation,the radical structural and major sovietisation

changes of the Old Town did not take place.

Few heritage restoration works have been done by

the state and the city. The biggest project has been

the Palace of Grand Dukes of Lithuania, which is

going to accommodate a

museum,

educational institution and

place for important state events.

Huge investments were made by the municipality in

the transport infrastructure, the renewal of public

spaces and parks in the Old Town and its surround-

ing. These investments are to be considered as very

valuable impulse for the Old Town revitalization andthe return of vitality and competitiveness to the his-

toric centre. It has encouraged new investments and

the creation of work places in the Old Town.


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eed of integrating new developments in

apidly changing basic conditions of modern times

d

o ensure the attractiveness of the Old Town the

he lack of a multilevel governance approach and

ctivities to upgrade the Old Town

ecessary activities to sensibly upgrade the Old

e

omotion of jobs and services in the Old Town

ng better understanding of the historical

t of investors, localcial

l and ad--

urden for

rules that regulate the heritage protec-

ew development: Park of Architecture

ackground

had a booming economy and

the end of 2007 the urban development depart-

-

-

he fragmented community and the abandoned in-

evertheless, the location of the project area is an

h

the UNESCO world heritage site of the Old Town.

A lot of churches and monasteries have been reno-

vated, too. New buildings in the Old Town have

been planned only in the conversion areas. During

the soviet times factories were built here instead of

reconstructing the historical buildings.

Nthe Old Town surroundings

R

like the fast-growing economic competition with the

accompanying development pressure, climate is-

sues and demographic situation poses a big chal-

lenge to the management of Vilniuss Old Town an

raises the demand for significant changes.

T

urban quality has to be maintained and adapted tothe new needs. It is very important to find efficient

ways to ensure the competitiveness, vitality and the

economic and social cohesion of the city through the

possibility of integrating new developments.

T

integrated sustainable urban development policies,

which link the preservation of cultural heritage with

the socio-economic development of historic urban

landscapes, will eventually result in non-competitive

urban areas with low amenity value for inhabitants

and visitors alike.

A

N

Town in order to make it attractive and competitiv

are:

Prarea;

Enabli

values of the Old Town;

Fostering the engagemenbusinesses and the community to invest finanand human resources in the cultural heritage as-

sets by supplementary funding schemes and taxincentives of the public institutions;

Creating a clear and transparent legaministrative framework to support new developments in and around the Old Town;

Reducing the tax and bureaucratic binvestors;

Setting uption process and help to achieve an exceptionalquality of new developments.

N

B

In 2006- 2007 Lithuania

the real estate sector produced 480.000 m of hous-

ing floor per year. Credits and loans were easily to

get and lots of families were seeking to buy flats or a

family home. The huge demand of new housing

space subsequently poses an additional pressuretowards new developments in the Old Town.

In

ment, being under significant pressure of the grow

ing real estate market, decided to initiate the project

Park of Architecture. A 78 ha area was defined for

new developments in cooperation with private inves-

tors and property owners. The site today encom-

passes factories in operation as well as one aban

doned former industrial site. A small scale residen-

tial area with some buildings under heritage protec-tion, a park and a shallow river are in close

neighbourhood of the industrial site.

T

dustrial buildings did not attract higher interest to

this area, despite short distance to the centre.

N

important factor of the success of the project and at

the same time a big challenge to all partners as itsterritory borders and overlaps to the one side with

the Vilnius Regional Park and on the other side wit


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-

he first step of developing this area was an open

te land and property own-

s had applied for this invitation

nd a consortium of 4 owners of former and existing

a

ac-

een to handle the entire process for the huge terri-

ry and to find the common solutions with all devel-

n and

-

f

contemporary architecture in the his-

w tool for the architectural-environmental education of society;

tant dia-

s,

Co tion with neighbouring communities has a

tan osphere of the sur-

unding communities, in particular of the Uupis

Architects and city planers are designing the area,

velopment. The municipality of Vilnius

implementing main principles of social cohesion

r a healthy and safe urban environment, installing

.

ro-

municipal-

The goal of the project is to convert the former so-

viet industrial property into a multifunctional sustain

able quarter, whilst supporting a sensible attitude to

the historical context and the needs of the future

residents as well as saving natural recourses.

Development process

T

invitation in 2008 to privaers to take part in this initiative to develop a new

sustainable residential quarter hand in hand with

municipality.

Several companie

a

industrial sites in the city centre was selected with

total territory of 16 ha for conversion. They had ex-

pressed the willingness to move their industrial

businesses to other locations and to develop hous-

ing and commercial real estate stock in very attr

tive area for conversion.

A great challenge for the municipality of Vilnius had

b

to

opers and partners of the project.

An important step was that a group of architects,

property owners, and city officials visited several

similar projects of housing in Germany, Swede

Denmark. The impression they brought back be-

came background for the common idea of converting the former soviet industrial area in a sustainable

way. The main guidelinesfor the development o

the area are:

Modern urban planning - principles of sustain-able development, mixed use housing concept;

Incorporatetorical context;

Demonstrate efficient use of eco-materials andenergy resources, implement sustainable energyprinciples;

Reach social cohesion in healthy and safe urbanenvironment with advanced solutions of mobility;

Create a ne

Create possibilities for Uupis creative districtphysical and ideological expansion, involve pro-fessional and local community into conslog;

Oblige private partners to fulfil ground principledetermined for the project.

opera

special focus to find an approach to locate the in-

gible values and creative atm

ro

community (Artists Republic) and the Tymo com-

munity (handicrafts and eco market), to the Park of

architecture.

using workshops, applying the main principles of

sustainable de

is

fo

new methods of modern project communication, e.g

through a Vilnius citizens opinion poll about the p

jects public spaces, info centre, exposition about

the building site, creative activities on the site, etc.

Concept of spatial development

The concept of the spatial development of the area

consists of basic quality requirements for the urban

structure, function, housing and mobility.

This concept must be adopted by city council andsigned by the project developers and the

ity of Vilnius.

Urban structure

Contextual diversity of urban planning principals,responding to the history of the area;

Quality of public spaces and housing;

irements for heights, density; Principal requ

Safety providing planning solutions;

Intensive use of waterfront.


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13

Function

Mixed used area housing, working places forSME;

All required social infrastructure (schools, kin-dergartens, community centre, primary health

care);

Safe accessibility by foot or by bike.

HousingDiversity of dwelling types -from luxurious to social, do

-it yourself projects;

ents, flatsfor rent, even hostels for students;

ents with workshops for artists and

Diversity of ownership -private apartm

Apartmcraftsmen.

Traffic and technologies

Priority for p edestrians and bicycles;

port;

sharing

ologies, reduced

Priority for public trans

Less cars less parking places , carservice;

Advanced engineering technenergy demand, rain water use.

Uupis

Tymo

quarter


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14

ity 3D-model

of Vilnius uses a 3D-modell and a

uss

d) gives the additional

ot

or not.

VILNIUS CITY DEVELOPMENT AND METHODS TOPROTECT TOWNSCAPE AND VISUAL IDENTITY

Mindaugas Pakalnis, Head architect of the Municipal Enterprise "Vilniaus Planas

Natural and cultural heritage: The identity

of Vilnius

Vilnius urban development is affected and interacts

strongly with its natural and cultural heritage, which

strongly shape the identity of the city. The cultural

heritage is presented through the Old Town, which

is surrounded by the natural heritage, the green hills

and slopes.

The city development concept 2025 has as one ob-

jective to preserve the value of its heritage, in par-

ticular the hilly landscape, the fantastic views, the

greenery in the city centre, the still existing contact

of the Old Town with the suburban areas and the

remarkable cultural heritage presented in the Old

Town.

Challenges for the urban development and

the visual integrity of Vilnius

The development of Vilnius is represented through

its cultural heritage with buildings from Gothic, Ren-

aissance, Baroque, Eclectics, Totalitarism and Mod-

ernism period. The current urban development is

characterised and challenged by

a twofold development of the city centre: on theone hand rehabilitated areas with high standardsand on the other hand devastated territories andbrownfields amounting to 120 ha,

the construction of high-rise buildings at the rimof the city centre and its green slopes,

a chaotic development of the suburbs and

an increase in housing space in m per inhabitant(from 1998-2009 16 m/inhabitant to 23

m/inhabitant).

Instruments for the protection of the visual

integrity

The main instruments of the City of Vilnius to protect

its visual integrity are:

City Master Plan

The City Master Plan defines two areas for high-rise

developments. The intention of the master plan is toconcentrate the high-rise building on these two ar-

eas to minimize the visual impacts on the historic

centre and to secure that the view on the green

slopes is not affected. The selection of the two ar-

eas bases on studies done in 2004, which proposed

two different approaches: One marking the struc-

tural axes to the city centre with high-rise buildings

and the other, to concentrate the high-rise develop-

ments in certain areas. Within the studies the natu-

ral heritage was analysed to define which natural

elements (green belt) has to be protected, defining

the zones not appropriated for high-rise buildings.

Monitoring of ci ty panoramas

The municipality of Vilnius defined the main view

points of the Old Town. From these view points thevisual impacts of developments on the historic cen-

tre is monitored.

C

The municipality

physical model to check the visual impacts of new

developments on the visual integrity of the Old

Town. The physical model is mainly used to disc

directly with professionals and citizens the visual

impacts on the Old Town.

The City 3D-Model (GIS-base

opportunity not only to control the view points, but

also to visualize the impacts from the street viewperspective. Based on the City 3d-modell it is de-

cided if a high-rise building can be build on the sp


15/15

URBACT is a European exchange and learning

programme promoting

ment.

It enables cities to work together t

tions to major urban challenges, re

role they play in facing increasing

tal challenges. It helps them to develop pragmatic

solutions that are new and sustainable, and that

integrate economic, social and en

mensions. It enables cities to share good practices

and lessons learned with all professionals involved

in urban policy throughout Europe. URBACT is 181

cities, 29 countries, and 5,000 active participants

www.urbact.eu/hero

sustainable urban develop-

o develop solu-

affirming the key

ly complex socie-

vironmental di-

Documents

Vilnius Visual Integrity Report